


Toy Soldiers

by Robin Lee (maydaysmusings)



Category: NCT (Band), 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Explicit Language, F/M, Gun Violence, M/M, Mafia NCT, Multi, Racial slurs, Violence, mafia, mob
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-14
Updated: 2019-08-13
Packaged: 2020-06-28 01:37:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19802071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maydaysmusings/pseuds/Robin%20Lee
Summary: Cordelia finally has a team of her own, but will it prove too much for her to handle?





	1. And The Battle's Just Begun

“Oi, would ya keep up?” Cordelia snaps at Seren as they sneak around the corridor, her accent thick underneath her mask, “If we’re late by even three seconds, Grace is dead.”

“My legs are small, maybe we should have accounted for that, you Celtic fuck,” Seren grunts as she’s caught up. “She won’t die. We never lose one of our own. Kiara has never been hurt.”

“Kiara isn’t new,” she says back, as though it’s the only reason, “Now, where is-Jesus fuck.” She taps her earpiece, “Lyn, where is Na? We need the fuckin’ ladder.”

“I think she got caught up at the entrance.” Comes Lyn’s voice over the earpiece.

She looks around and sighs, “Fuck it. I’ll boost her and climb up.” She squats and lets Seren climb onto her shoulders, “Take the vent off and I’ll lift you.” She looks up and takes the vent cover from Ren’s hands and puts it down before helping her up into the vent, “Got it?”

“Yeah. Give me the cover.”

She hands it up, then jumps and grips the edges, pulling herself up, “See? That’s why you lift.”

“Shut up and put the cover back on.”

Cordelia chuckles and slides the cover back on before making her way through the duct, Seren right behind her. “Okay, so, there’s gonna be ten of them. Nine henchmen and the boss. We have to be ready. I’ll take the left and you take the right, okay?”

“Okay, yeah,” Seren nods, lugging her duffle behind them, “What if there’s more?”

“Use your imagination,” she nods and stops as she hears voices, pointing down, lowering her voice. “They’re right there. We just have to make it to the bathroom.” The two crawl through the duct, finally getting to the vent, Cordelia carefully removing it and climbing out, into the tub, pulling Seren down with her. “Ready?” she adjusts her mask and draws her gun, fixed with a silencer.

Seren pulls her own gun and nods before they storm through the bathroom door, shooting every target visible, direct chest shots to each one of them. “Nine, down!”

“I got him.” Cordelia spots the man trying to run and points, shooting him in the back of the head without so much as a flinch. She nods, walking around with Ren to double check for pulses, before pulling out her coins and covering their eyes, then delivering headshots, saying “amen,” after each one. She sighs and stands, looking at her watch, “Where the fuck is Gracie?”

“She’s…not here…fuck.” Seren frowns and taps her earpiece, “Lyn, where’s Grace?”

“I…I thought she was there. I can’t find her.”

“Fuck.” Cordelia sighs and puts the coins away, picking up their shell casings when there’s a knock.

“Room service!” A female voice calls.

“Grace,” Cordelia breathes and runs to the door, opening it and pulling her inside, “Where the fuck were you?!” She shakes her head, “You had me terrified.”

Grace blinks around the room, ten dead bodies, all laid to rest, then blinks back up at the girls in front of her, breathing heavily, “Fuckin’…what the fuckin’ fuck who the fuck fucked this fuckin’ how did you two fuckin fucks…fuck!”

Cordelia laughs as she sheds her jacket, “Well, that certainly illustrates the diversity of the word. Don’t it, Ren?”

Seren snorts, taking her own jacket off, “Relax, Grace. Supplies?”

“You two are insane!” Grace shakes her head and moves back to the door and pulls the cart in. “…Next time, ask Nix.”

“Aww, lovey, are you getting queasy?”

“No! You’re laughing and you just shot ten people!”

“Well, it’s war, puppet,” Cordelia pats her arm, “Go on. Go back. We’ll meet you in fifteen minutes.”

Grace leaves and the two make quick work and cleaning up anything they left behind before climbing back through the duct and into the corridor. Cordelia screws the vent back on and they dump their bags into a laundry cart, which is wheeled away by Kiara in a maid’s outfit, before making their way out of the building and into their car.

Phoenix smirks at Cordelia from behind the wheel as she gets in front, driving off, “How did it go?”

“If Giovanni doesn’t get it by now, then he never will.” Cordelia says, pulling off her gloves, revealing two tattoos on her right hand, a rosary on her index finger and a shamrock on her thumb. She sighs, “Grace is out, though. She’s gonna stay with Na from now on.”

“Couldn’t stomach it?”

“Couldn’t stomach us,” Cordelia chuckles and leans back in her seat.

“She thinks we’re nuts,” Seren says form the back seat.

“Well, she’s not too far off base.”

Cordelia snorts and rolls her eyes, grabbing her phone out and texting her father, ‘Met Mario and his friends and took them out to eat.’

‘Good for you, Sweetheart.’

She chuckles as the screen, the code letting him know the job was done and that he was proud of her. It wasn’t her first hit and it wouldn’t be her last, but since taking over, it was her first with her own team and plan. Only her first week and already she had six confirmed kills, Seren having taken out the other four. “Good work today, Seren. Dad’s proud.”

Seren beams in the backseat, “Thank you, Cord.”

“Don’t mention it,” Cord smiles, climbing out of the car when they reach the house where the team lives together, getting Seren’s door and then Phoenix’s, a gentlemanly gesture usual of her. She leads them inside and kneels to greet the two Dobermans, Angel and Clover that run up, “Hi, you two!” She chuckles and lets them lick her face before they run off towards Seren, their actual owner.

She stands and heads upstairs to change, out of the all black stealth suit and into some slacks and a white button-down before going down to the kitchen, rolling up her sleeves and putting her hair up, grabbing her apron and washing her hands, “Nix, set the table, please?” She calls out, drying her hands and grabbing her homemade noodles from the pantry, putting them on to boil, checking on her sauce that had been cooking all day. She hums and grabs lettuce, onion, tomatoes and carrots from the fridge, chopping them up and washing them before dumping them into a serving bowl. She hears the other part of their team, Grace, Kiara, Lyn, Sayen, Jaehyun and Athena, walk in the door and smiles, “Wash up, dinner’s ready in five!”

She chops up some bread and lays it out, then moves to drain the cooked noodles, dumping them in a serving bowl, pouring sauce over it and mixing it. She puts the tray of bread, bowl of pasta and bowl of salad on the, now set, table and calls out, “Come eat!” She grabs two pitchers and fills one with soda, the other with water, “Anyone want wine?” She asks as they all pile in, setting the drinks on the table before going to pour herself a glass of wine, everyone else denying one.

She sits with her wine and waits until everyone has their food to serve herself, smiling as the girls chat amongst themselves and she bows her head, praying to herself. She thanks god for her girls and for her family. “Amen,” she murmurs and looks up, the girls still talking and eating happily. She takes her wine and sips, leaning back in her chair. ‘This,’ she thinks, ‘This is why I do what I do. For them.’

Kiara was her first recruit, she remembers as she watches her adoptive sister slurp up pasta, giggling. Her home life annoyed Cordelia, as she did not deserve to be treated the way she was by her mother. Cordelia had grown up with Kiara and knew her family well enough to persuade Kiara’s dad to let her stay with her instead, at age 18. He agreed and Cordelia taught Kiara all she knew about the game, shooting, scheming and surviving. Three years later, Kiara was one of the best.

Seren was her second. Friends for years, Cordelia noticed the anger in her steps and in the way she talked, which made Cordelia nervous. She decided to teach Seren a way to release her anger; going to the range and shooting at fake targets. Seren took to it like a natural and is now their best weapons expert, best shot second only to her mentor. But you’d never know by looking at her as she fumbles with the noodles.

Then came Lyn and her little sister, Sayen, Cordelia had attended some classes with Lyn during the summer. The girl was struggling balancing her home and school life and Cordelia noticed right away, having been through something similar in high school. She struck up a conversation and found the girl needed to move out of her parent’s home soon, but wanted to take her little sister with her. Seeing the girl so distraught, she offered two rooms at her house and a job for both of them. The two now sat happily, sipping their waters, passing all their classes while they work under Cordelia.

Nix came next, after word of Cordelia’s apprenticeship reached Phoenix’s father, the man contacted his goddaughter and asked if she would train Pheonix. Cordelia accepted, training Phoenix in hand-to-hand combat and weaponry, before learning her true passion was heists. She began training her in planning and executing elaborate heists, eventually watching her surpass her own knowledge on the subject. She chuckles as the girl her knife in her hand, “Nix,” she chides and the girl quickly puts the knife away, “Thank you.”

Athena and Grace were the last additions that came to the team, stumbling upon it by accident when Cordelia invited them over for a Community Cleanup meeting, seeing men in suits waiting for Cordelia to give them orders. She explained to them and made them swear not to tell, but to her surprise, they saw how she treated them and wanted in, wanting to be part of her mission of justice. They were close and worked well together, even now as Grace lays her head on Athena’s shoulder, munching happily at her salad.

Jaehyun was technically not her recruit; the pair had been together since diapers. She smiles softly as she looks at her best friend across the table, the two of them occupying the heads of it. He had trained with her since they were kids and taught her how to handle herself around men, how to never back down and how to get what she needed. He was on her team before it ever even existed and she wouldn’t have it any other way.

She slowly eats her dinner and clears the table when everyone’s done, humming to herself before she’s being pushed out of the kitchen by Lyn and Nix, “Hey!” She laughs.

“No, go, we can do the dishes,” Lyn says.

“I’m not disabled!”

“But you should rest. We’ve got it.”

“…Can I at least have my wine?”

Phoenix grabs it and gives it to her, “Now, go. Off to bed.” She shoos her.

Cordelia chuckles to herself and kisses their heads, before the others line up, making her snort, “Okay, okay, goodnight kisses!” She kisses each of their heads before she heads upstairs, getting dressed for bed and laying back in her bed with her glass of wine, listening to the laughter downstairs with a soft smile.

“Yeah,’ she thinks again, ‘All for them.’

She jumps as her phone rings and she picks it up, “Hello?”

“Hey, Squid,” the voice on the other end soft and reassuring.

“Dad?”

“Yeah, just wanted to call and see if you wanted to talk.”

“Dad, I’m fine.”

“Are you sure? I can get your mom and we ca-“

“Today went the best it could. I have my team safe,” she chuckles, “I’m okay.”

“…I’m really proud of you, sweetheart.”

“Thanks, pops.” She smiles against the receiver.

“Okay, sweetie, well your mother says she loves you and I love you, too, but I’ll let you go for now.

“I love you too.”

“Goodnight, Squid.”

“Goodnight, pops.” She hangs up with a smile and finishes her wine, yawning and finally curling up in bed, turning on a movie for background noise.

She sleeps soundly until she’s woken to the press of cool metal against her cheek and she sits up with a gasp, only to have her mouth covered, followed by a deep, “Shh!”


	2. Every Chain Has Got A Weak Link

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Due to foreign languages, I have put translations in with italics for easier reading.

Cordelia, thinking on instinct, wrenches the arm of her silencer and stands quickly to knock him down, pulling his arm behind his back and putting her foot on his back as she grabs her gun from under her pillow.

“Cordelia!” The person grunts, trying to get free from her grip, “It’s me! It’s Jimin!”

The girl blinks as he comes into focus in the darkness and groans, letting him up, “Jimin! Don’t do that!” She shakes her head and sets the gun down, “You know I could have killed you! ...How did you even get in here?!”

“I used my key,” he says as he rubs his arm with a pout, “Get dressed, I need you to come with me.”

She blinks, but does as asked, pulling on her slacks and button-down from the night before, slipping her watch and ring on before pulling on her boots, “Where are we going exactly?”

“Just come on,” he says as she grabs her gun, wallet, phone and keys, following him downstairs, “I need your help, but it’s urgent.”

“You know I’ll always help you, Jimmy.” She says, walking out to Jimin’s car and climbing in, “Who’s it dealing with?”

“Samuel Kim,” he answers as he starts the car and drives off, Cordelia’s face falling, “He’s…got something on you, I feel it. I just…don’t know how…”

“Why? What did he say?” Cordelia fingers the trigger on her gun.

“That you took out Giovanni’s crew earlier tonight.”

“…I did.”

Jimin speeds up and pulls into a parking lot of a warehouse, getting out and leading Cordelia inside, a couple of Cor’s men stand around, a man in a chair off to the side. “There,” Jimin points.

Cordelia walks over, smirking, “Hiya, Sammy, long time, no see.”

The man looks up, glaring, “Didn’t expect the bitch to actually show up.”

“And, why not?”

“Because you and your family are cowar-“

Cordelia pistol whips him, glaring, “That’s how you wanna play this, then?” She nods and cocks her gun, putting it to his jaw, “Tell me who told you.”

“Never.”

“I’m not messing around here. I know your daddy is in bed with the fucking Alfonsi’s, so why don’t you fess u-“

“Like you have any right. Your mom’s a dirty Italian who-“

“Watch your goddamn mouth!” She snarls and wraps a hand around his neck, cutting off his air supply, “If I let go, you’re gonna tell me who the fuck knew about it.”

She releases and he gulps in air, “Fuck you! Ahh!” He cries out as Cordelia fires a shot into his thigh, “You crazy bitch!”

“I missed your major artery on purpose. Now, wise the fuck up, Sammy! Dammi il cazzo di nome! Right fucking now, Sammy! Tá a fhios agam go bhfuil a fhios agat é! Dimmi, Adesso!” _(Give me the fucking name! Right fucking now, Sammy! I know you know it! Tell me. Now!)_

“LOUIS O’MALLEY!”

“Thanks,” she nods and then butts the pistol into the side of his chin, knocking him out, before grabbing her phone and dialing Ren’s speed dial. “Hey,” she says when she picks up, “Get down to Louis’ building, but don’t go in without me…Yes, you can bring the dogs.” She hangs up and holsters her gun, “Send him back before he wakes up. I’ll go take care of the rat.” She gets back in Jimin’s car with him and sighs as they speed off, “I can’t believe there’s a fucking rat.”

“Are you gonna-“

“Have to. Needs to be dealt with.” She says, emotionless. She nods when they arrive, “Stay here. I’ll be back in five.” She says as she spots Ren’s car, getting out and walking over to her and the dogs. “Good pups, no barking,” she smiles and takes the mask Ren offers her, pulling it on. “Ready?”

“Ready,” she nods and walks in with her, the dogs well-trained enough not to alert anyone to them. She looks to Cordelia as they ascend the steps up into the apartment building to Louis’ door, her face was set and her eyes were colder than Seren had ever seen them. It scared her.

“Okay, I’m gonna open this door, you let the dogs go,” she whispers as she carefully picks the lock and swings it open, Ren grunting an order in German as the dogs take off. Cordelia closes it behind them, but not fully as they run after the dogs who are tearing at the blankets over the man in bed. “Oh, look, the puppies found a rat.”

“Fuss! Sitz!” _(Heel! Sit!)_ Ren says and the dogs get down, sitting at her feet.

Cordelia tears the blanket back and pulls the man out of bed by the collar of his shirt, pulling her mask off, “Miss me, Louis?” She cracks the butt of her gun against the back of his head, making him yelp. She grips his hair and steps over his legs, leaning down to face him, pulling his head back so they lock eyes. “You betrayed the family today, O’Malley. After all we’ve done for you…You tell the fucking Koreans about the hit. And for what? A little extra cash? Protection. We give you those things. My father would give you the shirt off his back and this is how you repay him?! Íosa!” _(Jesus!)_

“Your father is an idiot! He’s letting some crazy dyke take over!” He spits at her.

Seren goes to lunge, but Cordelia holds her hand out to stop her, wiping the spit from her cheek, “Don’t…Just hope he’s right with Jesus,” she says coldly and stands, towering over the man, “On your fucking knees, Louis…I SAID GET ON YOUR FUCKING KNEES!” She hits him across the face with her gun before forcing him to kneel, Ren standing behind him as Cordelia moves to do so as well, barrels of their guns pointed to make the bullets criss-cross and exit out his temples. She pulls her rosary from her shirt and starts speaking, Seren speaking with her in unison.

“And Shepherds we shall be, for thee my Lord, for thee. Power hath descended forth from Thy hand, our feet may swiftly carry out Thy commands. So we shall flow a river forth to Thee and teeming with shouls shall it ever be. In Nomine Patri Et Filli…” She pauses, letting him get in any final words, something mumbled in Irish under his breathe. “Spiritus Sancti.” The girls shoot, executing him, Cordelia kneeling to lay him back and cross his arms, putting the coins over his eyes, blessing him.

Seren’s ears perk at the door creaking and she hisses to the dogs, “Fass!” _(Attack!)_ the dogs take off with her as they run into the living room and the dogs take down a tall figure. “Fuss!” _(Heel!)_ She steps up as the dogs back off and pulls the man up, shoving him to the wall, putting her hand over his mouth, gun at his neck, noting the nametag on his shirt, changing her voice to sound German, “Elliot. Here’s the situation tonight, my friend and I, we’re takin’ care of some business, okay? See, that man was going to end up getting us killed, so we had to be first, do you follow me, Elliot?” He nods and she continues, “I’m gonna move my hand and you’re gonna keep quiet, alright?”

When she removes it, the man looks at her, scared shitless, “Look, I-I don’t care what you’re doing here with your friends, that’s none of my business, okay? I’m a fucking janitor. What do I know about this shit?” He panics.

She presses the gun harder against his jaw, “Nothing. Right?”

“Right! Right! Please! Don’t kill me. I-I have a wife and kids, I’m not a threat! I swear!” He whimpers and Seren lets him go as he starts to cry.

“Say anything and I will come after you.” She threatens as Cordelia, masked again, comes out. “don’t worry, I took care of it. If he talks, I feed him to my dogs.”

Cordelia hums and nods, walking out with the dogs, confident in the feeling that they’d not be ratted out. When they get out of earshot, Cordelia chuckles, “Nice accent there.”

“Danke,” _(Thanks.)_ Seren smirks and walks to the car, letting the dogs back in, “I’ll see you at the house,” she gets in and drives off.

Cordelia walks to Jimin’s car, pulling off her mask and looking around before she gets in, “Done. Let’s go,” she says, taking off her gloves, texting her father, ‘Found rats in the basement. Called an exterminator, all done.’

‘Good to hear. Make sure you seal it better next time.’

She sighs and leans back in her seat, “Thanks for coming to get me. Better it was dealt with tonight and directly,” she shakes her head. “At least that’s over with, now.”

Unbeknownst to Cordelia, though, parked on the side of the apartment building was one John Suh, who was just receiving a call from his right hand man, “Hey, Mark…”

“Hey…heads up, two women, armed.”

Johnny looks up as Seren gets into her car and drives off, watching Cordelia gets into her own, catching only a glimpse of brown hair and sparkling blue eyes before the door closed and she drove off. “What happened?”

“Execution of…” Mark picks up the man’s wallet with his gloves, “Louis O’Malley, the man we were supposed to find,” he sighs as he looks around.

“Alright, come on out, Elliot,” he chuckles, “Let’s get home.”

Mark strips off the coveralls to his regular clothes and tosses them down the laundry room as he leaves the apartment, going downstairs and heading to car and getting in, “Did you see them?”

“Not really. But, I’m sure they’re part of a family…though, it’s odd they’re the ones doing hits…” He hums and drives off, “I’ve never let a woman do a hit. Far too dangerous. Bound to go wrong.”

“I don’t know…they seemed pretty experienced,” he says, “Like experts, really. Except the door was a bit open, that’s how I caught them.”

“They threaten you?”

“With a gun and two Dobermanns,” he says, “Sounded German, the other didn’t talk.”

“German, huh?” He hums as he drives, “The König family, perhaps?”

“Possibly,” Mark nods as he grabs a notepad and pen from the glove compartment, scribbling the design of the gun that was pointed at him.

“What’s that?” Johnny asks as he looks over.

“The gun she had. Maybe I’ll recognize it if I see it again.”

“Good idea, kid,” he says and after a while, parks in their driveway, getting out and heading inside.

Mark follows him, nodding at WinWin as they enter, Yuta and him sitting on the couch there, the rest of their team probably upstairs, sleeping. “How did it go?” Yuta asks, yawning.

“He’s dead. Germans took him out,” Mark answers.

“Germans?” Lucas pipes from the kitchen, “That makes no sense,” he comes out, eyebrow raised. “This is between the Koreans, the Italians and the Irish. No Germans, no Russian, no French. So, why would they take him out?”

“Maybe they’re forming a new alliance,” WinWin says, typing away on his laptop, glasses perched on his nose, “It could be beneficial.”

“For them, maybe, but we’ve got enough on our plate,” Johnny shakes his head, “Our one informant is gone before we could even get the details and the only who knew them is probably long dead, too. Haven’t heard from Samuel in hours.” He groans and walks to the kitchen, pouring himself a glass of whiskey, shaking his head, “Never knew the Königs to be this brutal.”

“Have you known any family to be?” Mark asks as Johnny comes back, sipping from his glass.

“A few. The Hartmanns…but they’re not really in the game anymore, old crime, old money, nothing more to gain…the Walters were very notorious, but they were all killed in that bomb five years ago…I…are you sure she was German?”

“Pretty sure, why?”

“What if it was an act? They could be Rinaldis or Coppolas, the Donatis were cruel, too. Or Russian, the Orlovs, the Alexeevs? Maybe Irish? The Donoghues?”

“She even spoke to the dogs in German, so I’m ninety-nine percent positive she was German as well.”

“Well that one percent can blow us out of the water, Mark. Stay on top of this. I won’t risk my family’s legacy over two chicks with guns. I just won’t.” He downs his drink and gets up, heading upstairs to his bedroom, getting changed for bed and trying to picture the face of the woman getting into the car. 

He’d never seen her before, he knew that. But, he was going to make sure to know her face if they ever met again.


	3. I See What's Mine And Take It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Phoenix has the chance to pull off her own heist, but will it go down without a hitch?

Sitting up with a sigh, Lyn shakes her head as she checks over the blueprints again, “Okay, I think I got it…” She lays it on the dining table, Cordelia moving the cups out of the way for her before bracing her hands on the table to either side of Lyn, looking at it from her perspective.

“Show us what ya figured out, Sweet Pea.”

“Alright,” she points out a trail, “If she goes in this way, I can keep her under the radar, but she won’t have an earpiece for half the way, since it’s so far underground…But, it’s the best and safest route.”

Everyone’s quiet, looking up at Cordelia who pulls back and grabs her cup from the counter, sipping the liquid inside, “…You’re sure about this.” It wasn’t a question. Lyn was always sure of the routes. It was her specialty. “…Pumpkin,” she says, looking to Phoenix who’s eating a plate of eggs, potatoes and bacon Cor and Athena had whipped up that morning. “Is it okay with you?”

“I think I’ll be fine,” Phoenix nods, “I’ll even make a noise every five seconds so you guys know when I come online and when I go off. That way we’re aware of what’s going on?”

“It works,” Lyn nods, “As long as I’m close enough, it’s practically risk free.”

“It’s the practically part that scares me.” Cordelia rubs her hand down her face and lets out a breath, “Nix, promise me that if-“

“If it doesn’t feel right, I turn around. I know, Cor.” She nods, smiling at her friend, “Lyn won’t be far from me and I’ll be safe with Kiara and Ren there, too.”

“I-“

“Mochi,” Lyn stands, approaching Cordelia, “Come here,” she pulls the taller woman in for a hug, “What’s got you so worried?” She asks, pulling back to cup her face in her hands.

“I just hate not being there. I should be the one taking any damage, not you guys,” she says, placing her hands over Lyn’s, “You’re my girls, my team, I couldn’t ever forgive myself if-“

“Ah! Lyn Anh does not DO if’s.” She pulls her head in to give her a kiss on the forehead, Cordelia leaning forward a tad so she can reach. “Stop worrying.”

“And just like that, my worries vanish. Like magic,” she chuckles and pecks Lyn’s head, standing up straight. “I’ll go check the guns are working properly. Could use a little stress relief,” she cracks her neck and dumps her cup in the sink, placing it inside. “Touch the dishes and perish, I’ll do them after.” She heads out of the kitchen and downstairs to their basement, small and compact, unless you touched the right spot on the railing of the stairs, the back wall going up to reveal a weapons cabinet, wall safe and mini gun range.

Upstairs, Lyn shows Nix where to go and where they won’t have contact, “Look, I know I talk a big game in front of Cordelia, but I can’t have her worrying more. She already smokes a pack a day.”

“I know. But, I have faith in you.” She says, hugging her friend around the shoulders, “You would never let me get hurt!” She kisses her cheek with a giggle and puts her plate in the sink, “Besides, these are our specialties, we’re the best in the field.”

“…That’s true,” Lyn smiles, 

“So, let’s see what we’ve got, huh?” She sits down next to her as Lyn nods.

“Okay, so you’re going to enter from here…” Lyn starts, going over the plan step by step as Phoenix’s smile gets larger and larger.

Heists were always her thing, ever since she was little and watched the cops and robbers movies on tv, rooting for the robbers over anyone. She would try her hand at it and only ever got caught once, taking a fifty dollar bill from her dad’s wallet, not that he was too upset, as she explained she was just practicing for real life. Her father was never prouder of her than in that moment and began to teach her everything she knew. Now, she surpassed even his knowledge of the craft and was self-reliant when it came to these things, quick on her feet and a fast thinker.

Tonight’s heist was especially risky, as she planned to take the priceless Everheart pendant from a gala in its honour. The Everhearts are America’s IT family and own countless prized gems, but the pendant is centuries old and priceless, the most important piece of jewelry in the family. Nix knew she had to have it; pure silver with diamonds inlayed, with a teardrop Amethyst suspended over the  
chest of those that wear it.

She drifts off thinking about it as they head to the gala, shaken awake by Kiara who sits behind her, “Hey, Nixie, we’re almost there. You ready?”

Nix blinks and nods, “Ready as ever,” she grins and stretches, looking down at her coveralls, knowing the true beauty of the dress underneath would match the pendant beautifully. She could barely wait.

After all, the Everhearts deserved to have it ripped away, like they aided in ripping people from their happy homes to build their own private estate with acres to spare. Nix hated them for it, though it had no direct on her or her family, she still didn’t think they had any right to do so. Cordelia had agreed on that front and truthfully, it was the only reason Phoenix was even going on this job, or else the Everhearts would keep their beloved pendant.

_Usually, Nix bowed to no one, by any means, but Cordelia was a bit different to her. At sixteen, Nix was paired off with her beloved cousin and told to follow her rule, but of course, Nix had plans of her own and was soon running rampant in the streets. One night, Cordelia confronted her, quietly and nicely, on a corner downtown, asking her if she’d rather move back with her father and do as he told her. The girl laughed it off and walked down the street, entering a jewelry store and already piling everything she could into her bag, before leaving like nothing had ever happened, but she didn’t know Cordelia had followed._

_She turns to walk down an alley, planning to sneak in through the back of a clothing store and go shopping for a bit before she was confronted by three buff thugs, all eyeing her and her bag. She was good with a weapon, but not that good and started to fear for her life as she grabbed her knife, the biggest of the three grabbing her wrist with a laugh. “What do you think that’s gonna do, missy?”_

_“Let go of me!” She growls and kicks his shin which causes him to lose his temper and slam her against the brick wall, pinning her there, knocking the knife from her grip_

_“You two, take the bag. I’ll take care of her.” He covers her mouth with his hand and holds her wrists above her head with the other, “Now, don’t you scream or this is gonna hurt even more, alright?”_

_“Aye, you’re right about that,” a familiar irish accent comes from the entrance of the alley. “Why don’t you let my friend there, go?”_

_He turns and sneers at Cordelia, “And what are you gonna do about it, Paddy?” He laughs._

_“I’ll blow your brains out,” she draws her gun, cocking it back without so much as a blink as he watches her, slightly tensing._

_“One of you, grab her. She’s bluffing.”_

_“Oh, am I?” Cordelia laughs as one of them stalks towards her and she shoots his knee out, sending him straight to the ground with a cry of pain._

_“You stupid bitch. Do you have any idea who you’re messing with?”_

_“No. Should I, now?”_

_“Fine. Two can play at that game,” he shoves Phoenix to the third man and draws his own gun._

_“Oh, you fancy a game, then?” She smirks, “Okay, I’ll go first.” She points her gun to the one on the floor and shoots his arm, making him wail. “Oops? Did I miss you?”_

_“Real cocky for an Irish.”_

_“That’s just our personality, mate. What about you? All cock and no brains?”_

_“Wouldn’t you like to find out.”_

_“Wouldn’t actually, but let’s see, shall we?” She aims and fires directly at his crotch, the man screaming in anguish as he falls, grabbing his bloody groin now with both hands._

_“You crazy bitch! I’ll kill you!”_

_“All talk,” she shoots again, this time as one of his hands reaches for his gun. “Now, you over there. Yeah, pally, that means you, give the lady her purse and lets her go, will ya? Unless you fancy a hole in you as well?” She cocks her head and the man lets Nix go, who runs to Cordelia. Cordelia picks up the other gun, along with Nix’s blade and ushers Nix out to a tinted car, getting in, “Stay low!” She hisses and starts the car, reversing rather quickly and driving backwards down a side street, making Nix realize she was a little off her rocker._

_“Cordelia! What are you doing?!” She grips the seat and door handle, staring at her cousin as he makes a sharp turn and speeds off, finally in the right direction._

_“Saving you. Do you have any idea how much danger you were in? And all you had on you was a knife? Are you kidding?” She chastises, shaking her head as she drives._

_“I would have been fine!”_

_“You sure about that? Because it looked to me like a bad situation about to get worse.”_

_“…Why did you follow me anyway?”_

_“I check on all my people. Now, if you pull something like that again and find yourself in danger, I won’t be there to save you. I am here to protect and teach you, not save you from your own self-destruction. I will teach you weapons and plan executions, but you will live by my rules and expectations when living and working with me. I do not ask much, but I must set a boundary. Are we understood?”_

_“…Yes,” Nix answered, quietly._

_She never truly questioned Cordelia again and would only do jobs that she was asked to, unless Cordelia okayed it beforehand._

Shaking her head of that night, she looks out the window and unbuckles her seatbelt, “Okay, I’ll see you guys after,” she nods and climbs in the back, removing the bottom portion of the floor and reaching down to move the manhole cover, climbing down into it. She adjusts her earpiece and starts to make noises every five seconds, to let Lyn know when she was on and offline, so far underground. She walks the sewer system until she reaches where she needs to be and climbs up, pushing the grate aside to climbs into a musty old basement.

She pulls her coveralls off and stashes them, her long, onyx dress flowing as she walks, Lyn encouraging her every step of the way. She slips seamlessly into the party, as though she’d never been gone in the first place, floating around the room and greeting people, who she didn’t know, but desperately wanted to know her, or anyone at the party, really.

She spots Kiara in her sapphire gown and winks at her as she moves to ‘read’ about the necklace, waiting for her cue when an older woman gasps, “That dress…it’s perfect for this necklace. You’d look stunning,” she says to Phoenix who just laughs and waves her off. “No, really, it’s basically made for that dress. Too bad, no one gets to see it until tonight. Keeping such a fine piece of art locked away like that.”

“Locked away?”

“Yes. It’s in a display case upstairs, but no one is allowed up until they have the heiress herself come and present it.”

“Interesting. Thank you, uhm…”

“Meredith Palmer.”

“Thank you, Meredith. Enjoy your night.”

“You too, dear.”

Nix makes a face at Kiara which calls for a small distraction, Kiara letting out a yelp to alert security as she drops her wine, letting Phoenix slip upstairs unnoticed. She spots the case, with no guards, and runs for it, coming toe-to-toe with a man, dressed in a silk suit. She quickly draws her knife from her thigh, thankful for the slit up her dress and holds it under the man’s chin, against his throat, raising an eyebrow at him.

“You know, if you weren’t about to kill me, I’d say this was hot…” The man chuckles, “But, if you’ll excuse me-“

“Don’t think so,” Phoenix breaks the display and grabs the necklace, booking it and hiding carefully as the alarms go off, before sliding down the bannister, the alarms drowned out by the sounds of the cheers for the heiress arriving. She slips out of the crowd and back to the basement where she covers back up and hides the necklace in her bra, crawling back down through the hole and covering it. She heads back to the van and climbs up, sitting next to Lyn on her computer, panting as Kiara hops in the front seat, giggling as she looks at her dress. “Go, Ren!”

Ren nods and speeds off, “Did you get it?”

“Of course,” she pants and shows them the necklace, gleaming. “Isn’t it beautiful?”

“Yes, it is.” Kiara gasps, looking back at it, eyes wide.

_That was something Kiara and Phoenix had always had in common; a love for all that glittered and glowed. She remembers one time when she came back from a heist, literal gold in her bag, to find Kiara staring her down like she was made of the stuff. “Can I see?” She asked softly, looking at her bag._

_“Sure?” Nix nodded and carefully pulled it out, the girl circling it in awe, “This is incredible…It’s so beautiful and shiny…”_

_“It’s gold.”_

_“Real gold…God, I’ve never seen so much in my life…”_

_“No?” Nix smiled and handed her a nugget of it, “Take this.”_

_“Really?”_

_“Why not? You helped us tonight, gathering Intel and what not.”_

_“Thank you,” Kiara blinked and hugged her and from then on, she always let Kiara in on her heists, knowing the girl wanted it just as bad as she did, but never more._

_That nugget still sat on Kiara’s desk in her bedroom._

“Someone else was there to steal it, though.”

“Really?” Lyn asks, “Who?”

“I’m not sure. He was handsome, but I had to threaten him. Sucks to be me, sometimes,” she laughs a bit and grabs the empty jewelry case, placing the pendant inside carefully.

“How did you threaten him?” Seren asks from the front seat, driving carefully.

“My knife to his throat. He tried to grab it after that, but I was quicker and got out of there. Thanks to the heiress showing up,” she hums. “Poor thing, her jewels are missing, now.”

“You’re so scary when you’re accomplished,” Seren laughs.

Phoenix shrugs and sits back for the rest of the drive, smiling at the case in her hands, already deciding where on her shelf it will go. Between her three gold bars and a tiara taken from a museum years before; right where it belonged.

The four of them pile out and head inside, giggling and congratulating each other until they’re shushed by Grace when they reach the living room. She’s got Cordelia, passed out, in her lap, stroking her hair, half-chewed toothpicks scattered on the table. “I just got her to sleep,” she whispers, “She’s been worried sick. How did it go?”

“Amazingly,” Phoenix skips up, showing her the case and its contents, “Isn’t it gorgeous?”

“It is,” Grace gasps, “Wow…Congratulations, Nix. You finally got it.”

“Thank you,” she beams. “Now, I’m gonna go put it away and take a shower,” she heads upstairs, kissing Cor and Grace’s cheeks before she heads upstairs, taking her coveralls off, leaving them in a heap but removing her dress and carefully hanging it back up. She sets the case, open, in its spot and heads to the bathroom, getting in the shower and washing the sewer stink off her, though there was truthfully barely any. She thinks about the deep brown eyes that bore into hers, daring her to make a move, but she had other, more important things on her mind. She wondered who he was and why he wanted the necklace so badly as well.

Shaking her head, she gets out and dries off, slipping on her silk robe before drying her hair as she walks back to her room, startling a bit when she sees the figure standing there. “Dad! Make your presence known!”

“Sorry, love,” he chuckles and moves to hug her, “I see tonight went well.”

“Yes, it did.”

“Congratulations,” he smiles. “I also heard there was a man.”

“No, dad. It’s fine. I wasn’t trying to go after a guy.”

“But, you met him.”

“By coincidence.”

“Over the one thing you wanted more than anything in the world?”

“That’s not true.”

“It’s not?”

“I wanted this because I liked it.”

“More than anything.”

“No. I want the queen’s jewels more than anything.”

“Really, now?”

“You should know that!”

Her dad laughs, “Guess I should, yeah.” He pats her arm, “Proud of you, kid. You’ve come far.”

“Thanks, dad…Mind if I go to bed?”

“I’ll get out of your hair, sure,” he smiles and kisses her head, giving her a hug, “Goodnight, my sweet. I love you.”

“Goodnight. I love you too,” she smiles and watches as he walks out before crawling into bed.

And if Cordelia had crawled into bed with her like a mother does with a child before their first day of school or before they leave home for a few days, who’s she to complain? Especially when said mother makes her and the rest of the crew a congratulatory breakfast. Waffles. Her favourite.


End file.
